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COMICS: Notes from the Pull List (8/20/08)

Published on 08/20/08 - 0 Comments

COMICS: Notes from the Pull List (8/20/08)
Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1 (of 5)
By Geoff Johns (writer) and George Perez (artist)
DC Comics
I have been waiting for this for MONTHS. While Final Crisis itself has been an incredibly mixed bag, and I’ve ignored almost all of its spin-offs (except for the superlative “Requiem” one-shot), “Legion of 3 Worlds” is probably the project that has excited me most in 2008. Following up on Johns’ recent use of the team in Action Comics and the JLA/SJA crossover, the original Legion is back. And so is the post-Zero Hour Legion. And so is the current Legion. Confused? Yeah, that’ll happen.
“Legion of 3 Worlds” has a lot working for it �" Johns, Perez, the Final Crisis tag �" but also a lot working against it. The Legion hasn’t been really popular since the 1980s. The average comic reader probably knows very little about the property since it’s so cut off from the rest of the DCU (Legion takes place 1000 years in the future), and the property has been relaunched umpteen times, so there are three or more distinct, unrelated versions of the same characters. And there are 40-plus members of the team to begin with �" plus supporting characters and enemies �" so there’s a LOT of setting the stage that needs to be done.
And that’s what issue 1 does. It is not an easy read. I mean, it’s Johns, so it all flows nicely and follows a clear, logical path. But it is a chunky issue, with dialogue practically overwhelming the pages in some cases. There is some action �" a voyage into the Phantom Zone, the sad assassination of a beloved character, the prison break on Takron Galtos �" but it’s a LOT of jawing.
The other two Legions don’t come into the picture until the end of the issue, so we’ve yet to get to the real fun of the series �" seeing Lightning Lad and Live Wire and Lighting Lad together, or Sensor Girl and Sensor and Princess Projectra all working on the same team. It should be a hoot. But so far, so good -- if you can stomach the ceaseless whining of Superboy Prime, one of the main villains in the series. Long live the Legion!

Uncanny X-Men #501
By Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker (writers) and Greg Land (art)
Marvel
I didn’t want this issue to end. That’s how fun it was. Thank God for the X-Men books right now, because without them Marvel would be a sorry place for a comic fan. The Avengers books are getting a lion’s share of the attention right now with Secret Invasion (undeservedly so, since that crossover is pretty awful and the Avengers “tie-ins” have been a total waste of time and paper), but the X-Books, bolstered by the recent Messiah Complex crossover, are on a clear creative upswing again, best exemplified by this flagship book.
Admittedly, last issue �" the first with the team’s new status quo, relocated to San Francisco with the hopes of essentially opening a mutant embassy �" wasn’t a slam dunk. Another fight with Magneto, more Sentinels, and a quizzical appearance by the High Evolutionary (no idea how this jibes with either his appearance in Annihilation: Conquest or his came on Endangered Species) didn’t really inspire me, although the handling of San Francisco and the team did.
We get lots more of that this issue, with a bunch of really charming scenes re-establishing the X-Men in their new location and setting the tone for this new X-era. Emma models so-skimpy-it-can’t-be-shown lingerie for Scott. Angel shows off in his new role of the team’s financier and showboat. Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Beast, and Colossus actually have some FUN for once. And none of it seems like a waste of time. To the contrary, it’s got a heart that’s been missing for the book for quite some time now.
Not everything is sunshine and light, however, as new mutant Pixie gets brutally mutie-bashed by the thugs from the new Hellfire Cult. The Cult seems to finally be doing something interesting with the Hellfire Club concept, which has languished since Emma left it back in the 280s. This new incarnation seems to be a much grittier, street-level approach to the elitist group, and the brief appearance of its new Red Queen seems to hint that it’s going back to its more kinky inclinations as well. Sounds good to me.
The best part of the issue: Karma! The whole “safe haven for mutants” concept should logically expand the cast to epic proportions, and hopefully we’ll see more than just the usual suspects. X’ian Coy Manh herself made a cameo at issue’s end, and Dazzler was name-checked last issue. Let’s hope some of the second-tier X-characters that have gotten precious little love of late will get some serious attention in this golden new X-age.